Rivet-feeding mechanism



E. B. STIMPSON RIVET FEEDING MECHANI SM pril 24, 1928.

Filed May 37, 1927 VENT R 7 BY 7 M 7) A RNEY /l/IIIIIIlI/II/Ii K Patented Apr. 24 1928.

UNITED] STAT so e Assmnon rofnnwm s. .s'rmrsaiw 1 EDWIN B. s'rrmrson,

O K YN, E ,v

ooMrANY, or BROOKLYN, NEW -YORK.

mvmm ae MEoH ivIs Application filed May 27, 1927. "Serial No 134,628.

This invention relates to rivet feeding mechanism'such as used to feed rivets to the operating plunger of afrivet' setting machine. V p a An object of the invention is to provide mechanism that will feed the rivets smoothly and rapidly without congestion or jamming.

In rivet feeding mechanism now in use the rivet has a tendency to fall "over on its side just as itis being fed into the rivet-receiving pocket, and this action causes jamming of the machine. The present invention avoids this difliculty by providing an im proved feedway' that guides the rivet in such a way that itmaintains a position substantially normal to the feedway and hence falls upright into the pocket. This is done by forming the lower end of the feedway with a part of reduced depth that closely en gages the head of the rivet and holds it against tilting moveni'ent,thereby insuring its proper engagement with the'rivet-receiving pocket.

lVhile'a preferred form of the invention has been disclosed for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that various changes may be made in the structure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter setforth and claimed.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a portion of a' rivet setting machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the lower. side of the feedway of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Figs. '2 and 3; 1g;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the upper side of the lower end of the feedway of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings more particularly, the reference numeral 10 indicates the rivet-receiving pocket, 11 is applied to the inclined feedway, and 12 is the driving plunger of the machine.

The main part of the feedway comprises a part 13 having its lower face formed with a T-shaped, open feed. slot 14 as indicated in Fig. 2. Rivets are fed into the upper end of slot 14 from a feed hopper (not shown), and fall down the slot with their heads engaged therein in the manner of Fig. 6. V

A hardened nose piece 15 is held in place on the lower end of member 13 by screws 16, and plates 17 and 18 are held to the lower sideof piece 15'bythe screws 16 as. well as byscrews 19.. The plates 17- and 18 are formed with overhanging ledges 2t) and 21 which c'o-operate to fornr'a continuation of the slot. 14. Nearthe lower end of plates 17' and 18 a groove 22 extends across nose piece 15, and a eut-ofi' slide 23'is fitted in the groove' Below the groove'two plates 21 and 25 are held to nose piece 15 by screws 26and have overhanging ledges27 and 28 which form thedelivery slot 29 in a position offset from theslot 14;. I The ends of the plates 17, 18,24 and 25 project over, the sides'of groove 22, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3,and the cut-off slide 23 has a, tongue 30 which protrudes between the upper and lower sets of plates; The tonguev 30 has a slot 31' cut therein of a shape corresponding to that of slot 14, the slot 31 being adaptedto receive the rivets from fe'ed slot let and transfer them tofdelivery slot 29. In order to accommodate the heads of the rivets during the transferring operation the plate 17 is cut away at 32- below the ledge 20, and a similarly cut-away portion is formed at 33 on plate 25. A notch 34 formed in the end of nose piece 15 permits the nose piece to fit closely about the plunger 12 and brings the open end of the delivery slot 29 into close proximity to the lower end of the plunger.

The part of the feed slotlying above the cut-off slide is made of suflicient depth to give the-heads of the rivets a loose fit therein to facilitate their movement under the force of gravity to the cut-off slide. In the past it has b'eencustomary to continue the feed slot at'the same depth all the way down to its end. Butfin such a structure the rivet has a tendency to fall over on its side just as it leaves the feedslot, due probably to the -weight of the head in conjunction with frictionalresistance against the sides of the slot. Consequently, the rivet fails to feed properly into the pocket 10 and the machine becomes jammed. I

The structure of the present invention avoids this difiiculty by forming the parts so that the end of the feed slot is relatively shallow and closely engages the top and bottom sides of the rivet head to hold it against tilting. In the species illustrated this result is accomplished by gradually increasing the thickness of the ledges 27 and 28 from that shown in Fig. 4 at the top of plates 24 and 25 to that shown in Fig. 5 at the bottom of the plates. This change in the thickness of the ledges produces a corresPondingdecrease in depth of the part of the feed slot engaging the rivet head, as will be clear from Fig. 3, and the lower part of the slot 1 closely engages the head of the rivet to hold it against tilting. V

In operation of the machine the rivets are fed into the upper end of feed. slot 14 through which they move by gravity to the This slide is. reciprocated by suitable parts of the machine to move a single rivet from the feed slot to the delivery slot 29, the latter being formed as described above to accurately guide the rivet into its proper position in the feed pocket, from whence it is driven by the plunger 12.

I claim 1. Rivet feeding mechanism including a receiving pocket, and an inclined feedway in cooperative relation to the pocket, said feedway having a T-shaped slot formed therein, the lateral arms of the T-shaped slot being of less depth at the lower end of the feedway than at its upper end.

2. Rivet feeding mechanismincluding a receiving pocket, an inclined feedway in cooperative relation to the pocket, said feedway having a T-shaped feed slot formed therein, a T-shaped delivery slot oil'set from the feed slot, the lateral arms of the T- shaped delivery slot being of less depth at the lower end of the delivery slot than the lateral arms of the T-shaped feed slot, and means for transferring a rivet from the feed slotto the delivery slot.

3. Rivet feeding mechanism including a receivingpocket, an'inclined feedway in cooperative relation'to the pocket, said feed- Way having a T-shaped feed slot formed therein, a T-shaped delivery slot offset from the feed slot, the lateral arms of the T- shaped delivery slot being of less depth at the lower end of the delivery slot than the lateral arms of the T-shaped feed slot, and

a reciprocating slide for transferring a rivet from the feed slot to the delivery slot.

4. Rivet feeding mechanism including a receiving pocket, aninclined feedway in. cooperative relation to the pocket, said feedway having a T-shaped feed, slot formed therein, a T-shaped delivery slot offset from the feed slot, the lateral arms of the T- shaped delivery slot being of gradually decreasing depth towardthe lower end of the feedway, and means for transferring a rivetfrom the feed slot to the delivery slot.

5. Rivet feeding mechanism including a receiving pocket, an inclined .feedway in cooperative relation to the pocket, said feedway having a T-shaped feed slot formed therein, a T-shaped delivery slot offset from the feed slot, the lateral arms of the T- shaped delivery slot being of gradually de creasing depth toward the lower end of the feedway, and a reciprocating slide for transferring a rivet from the feed slot to the delivery slot.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

EDWIN B. STIMPSON. 

